LEE CATTERMOLE says there is no danger of Sunderland suffering another derby deep-freeze this weekend.

The Black Cats froze home and away in their derby clashes with Newcastle last season, losing 5-1 on Tyneside and then needing an injury-time equaliser to snatch draw in the return fixture, as Newcastle – led by the likes of Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll and Joey Barton – handled the pressure-cooker derby atmosphere better than Sunderland on both occasions

But Nolan and Carroll have both since moved on, while Sunderland have added experienced campaigners such as the ex-Manchester United duo of Wes Brown and John O’Shea, and proven Premier League performers Seb Larsson and Craig Gardner.

And skipper Cattermole says that means Sunderland now have the upper hand as they prepare to go head-to-head with their biggest rivals at the Stadium of Light tomorrow.

“They had big personalities and big leaders on the pitch last year, like Nolan and Barton,” admitted Cattermole.

“That counts at times, but what we’ve done this summer is bring in big characters and hopefully that will help us.

“We’ve got a lot more experience under our belts and it counts. We’ll definitely be more aware of what we’re facing this year.

“It was intense and a massive game last year. But it affected us more than it’s going to this year. We’re much more experienced now.

“The lads who played in it last year will have learned from it, myself included. I’m sure we’ll produce a better display.

“Even though we got beat 5-1, I still loved being in the stadium with all the fans against us.

“But on the day, no-one turned up. I think Phil Bardsley had a good game but that was about it.

“Even the likes of Darren Bent froze and we had a lot of younger ones like Jordan Henderson who struggled.

“It’s hard when it gets like that, the pitch felt massive and you didn’t know where your team-mates were.”

Despite selling homegrown star Jordan Henderson over the summer, Sunderland have quietly gone about strengthening their squad with boss Steve Bruce bringing in 10 new faces, the vast majority of which were signed before the players returned for pre-season training at the beginning of July.

In contrast, Newcastle have endured a summer of discontent with fans unhappy that there have been no big-money signings to replace the departed duo Nolan and Jose Enrique, while manager Alan Pardew has had to deal with the Twitter tirades of a disaffected Barton.

Cattermole said: “I think Sunderland are a much more stable and healthy club at the minute, but I don’t think that counts for anything when it comes to derby day.

“Newcastle have got a squad of players who are all good players and when it kicks off it’s so fast and furious.

“You need eight out of your 11 to put in good performances.

“Hopefully with the lads we’ve brought in, I think we’ll be able to go out and put on a better performance.

“It gets talked about for weeks and weeks, but the lads have to look at it like any other game.

“The 5-1 is going to get talked about because we got a drubbing.

“Maybe, we were underestimated them in the first game and then the second one, we couldn’t afford to lose and didn’t play that well either.

“We’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves. I know the fans are up and it’s a big day for them and if we can come out on top, it will be brilliant.”